Allies of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are launching an effort to lay groundwork for him to run for president, the leaders of a new draft committee told NBC News.
Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and progressive strategist Nomiki Konst are co-chairs of the group — “Run Ro” — which can raise money from donors and begin building support for a Khanna candidacy while he continues to weigh a 2028 bid.
The move comes in the immediate aftermath of a midterm election in which voters swept Democrats into power in the House and the Senate, with some high-profile progressives among the big winners. It also comes as the party’s left wing looks for a new champion who can run in the progressive lane that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., occupied in the 2016 and 2020 presidential nominating contests.
“By launching now, we are trying to ensure that the presidential primary debate is framed from a progressive populist perspective,” Konst said.
The challenges facing a possible Khanna candidacy are immense. Only one person was ever elected to the presidency directly from the House: James Garfield, R-Ohio, in 1880.
Khanna, a fifth-term lawmaker, has made headlines with bipartisan efforts to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and to end the war in Iran. He is nonetheless not even the most famous House progressive considering a presidential bid.
That unofficial title belongs to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who hasn’t yet said whether she will seek the presidency, run for a Senate seat in New York or remain in the House.
“She is my sister, and I love her,” Bowman said of Ocasio-Cortez, with whom he shared a close alliance in the House. “Ro Khanna has shown the work ethic, the humility and the vision that we need in this moment.”
Khanna, who was a co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign, is also a favorite of progressives around the country. And he has been traveling to early primary states for months. He makes no effort to hide his presidential ambitions, and many of his colleagues believe he will jump into the race.
He welcomed the draft committee in a statement to NBC News.
“I’m honored that people are encouraging me to run on a platform of Medicare for All, ending foreign wars and taxing the billionaires,” he said. “We need America’s Next New Deal. Whether I run or support someone else is something I will decide with my family after the holidays.”
Konst said the draft committee will allow her and Bowman to organize now so Khanna isn’t late to the game if he does run.
“The centrists organize and strategize early,” she said. “They have their donors, corporate consultants and leaders lined up for years. Building off the lessons of past primaries, our goal is to channel the progressive energy into a vessel for organizing and spreading our winning message early, as we can’t wait for the politics to line up.”
No candidate has yet entered the field for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
